1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oral care implement, in particular a toothbrush with a cleanser for cleaning soft tissue surfaces in the mouth.
2. Description of Related Art
According to the American Dental Association, a major source of bad breath in healthy people is microbial deposits on the tongue, where a bacterial coating harbors organisms and debris that contribute to bad breath. The tongue is a haven for the growth of microorganisms since the papillary nature of the tongue surface creates a unique ecological site that provides an extremely large surface area, favoring the accumulation of oral bacteria. Anaerobic flora and bacteria residing on the tongue play an important role in the development of chronic bad breath commonly called halitosis. In general, the bacteria produce volatile sulfur compounds (VSC). If there is enough buildup of the sulfur compounds, the result can lead to bad breath or oral malodor.
Bladed tongue scrapers have been used in the past, but have generally been inadequate in respect to their effectiveness and/or safety. Moreover, notwithstanding the benefits to be gained by any ability to clean the tongue, some users avoid the use of such blades because of lack of comfort on the tongue surface.
Hence, there is a need for an oral care implement with a tongue cleanser that provides effective removal of the tongue bacteria and other debris while maintaining comfort to the user.
In order to achieve a combined cleaning effect, a toothbrush usually has a plurality of tooth cleaning elements projecting outwardly from a first surface of a head. Said head is attached to the handle. The present invention in particular pertains to a manually operated toothbrush, in which the handle is adopted to be securely held by the hand of the user. A second surface of the head, which is arranged opposite to the first surface of the head, is protruded outwardly by at least one projection for removal of microbial and other debris from soft tissue in the mouth. Such at least one projection forms part of a tissue cleanser. While the tooth cleaning elements are arranged to project outwardly from the first surface, the at least one projection of the cleanser is arranged to protrude outwardly from the second surface.
Such toothbrush is, e.g., known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,908,699 B2, which describes a cleanser, in which plural projections are protruding outwardly from the second surface. The projections are each provided by conical nubs having circular cross sections, which nubs are made of a thermoplastic elastomer.
However, tissue cleansing with a toothbrush in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 7,908,699 B2 still requires improvement.